Two years? TWO YEARS? That is an outrageous amount of time for a first time offense when you compare it to other sports.

Yet at the same time… it’s probably what works. 1/3 of a season, 1/2 of a season, one full season… You’re still gonna find athletes who think it’s worth the risk. So you get caught? Eh, what’s six months without playing, right? You rest, you train, you come back healthy and ready to play.

But two years? That’s a long fucking time, man. Two years ago I had just finished college and still believed I’d do something meaningful with my life. Two years ago Donald Trump was a washed up reality TV star who couldn’t pay Jimmy Kimmel half of his significantly-less-than-advertised fortune to be the second guest slot behind the third lead from The Big Bang Theory a dead Tuesday in June. Two years ago people still thought Tiger Woods was going to be good at golf again.

Two years is a long time. You’re taking a BIG risk when you start doping as a Tennis star. A significantly bigger risk than, say, David Ortiz is taking right now, especially when there’s no Rob Manfred to sweep your tests under the rug.

Yet Sharapova… she was still willing to take that risk. She was willing to risk tens of millions of advertising dollars, tens of millions in tournament winnings, and basically her legacy as one of the greatest female tennis players ever.

Which begs the question…

How fucking GREAT is Serena?

I mean… holy shit. Look at all that Sharapova risked. Look at what she was willing to do to beat her. And she could barely win a fucking GAME from Serena, let alone set or a match.

How crazy is that?

Serena’s “biggest rival” (outside of her sister) was doping, probably for her whole career, and wasn’t even in the same stratosphere as her. Serena didn’t dominate Sharapova, she owned her. And Sharapova needed performance enhancers to even get to that point.

I don’t know who the most dominant athlete in history in. You’d have to really do a deep dive to figure that out. But there’s no way you can make that list without Serena ending in your top five. And in light of this news – probably your top three.